Subject: Haliburton Forest 100
From: John Turner
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 16:15:04 -0700
My First 100, at Haliburton.
First the short version. At the last minute I decided to try the 100 mile
at Haliburton on September 7th. I completed it, thanks in no small part to
a well organized race, amazing aid station staff and some wonderful runners.
I am still tired, and the soles my feet are aching. I did not say "never
again", but I did say "not for a while, and with better training next time".
The longer version now. On Friday August 30th, my good sense deserted me
and I called Helen to ask her to move me up to the 100 from the 50 that I
had been planning on all year. I had wanted to run at least 9 of the races
in the OUS series and I thought it would be better to wait until next year
to try my first 100. It was also suggested that running the 50 this year
would let me get to know the course so I would be ready to do 100 there next
year. Some time in the last week of August I decided to try the 100 NOW,
rather than waiting.
Haliburton Forest 100 is a double out an back on trails and logging roads
a couple of hours north east of Toronto, Canada. There are also 50 mile and
50 K options. Helen Malmberg is the race director.
I immediately started preparing for the race. Reading up on the course,
preparing drop bags, buying supplies etc. I was very excited, which led to
my getting much less sleep than I wanted the last two nights before the
race. Sandra and I drove up to the area on Friday afternoon, and spent the
afternoon with friends at their cottage a few kilometers from the start.
The dinner was a lot of fun, getting to see runners I knew, and meeting new
friends. Jim Ratcliffe (who ran the 50 mile) met us at the dinner, then
came and stayed with us at our friend's cottage. This may not have been a
great idea in retrospect, since the other people in the cottage did not need
to get to sleep and so, stayed up talking (what seemed very loudly) until
quite late. I woke earlier than I wanted to and just lay there for over an
hour, then finally got up. The cottage is on an island, so we had an
interesting trip across to the mainland in a small outboard with only a
small flashlight. Finally, we made it to the start and were ready to go.
We listened to John Prohira's blessing, moved to the starting line, and then
were off.
I felt pretty good, and started off at what I thought was a good pace.
Moving steadily, but not working too hard. It was generally downhill on
roads to the first aid station at 5 miles. This section took about 50
minutes, then we headed off onto some trails. I still felt good through
this and the next section, but the heat began to get to me after the 15 mile
aid station and I started walking some of the flat parts. I was having fun
at this point, seeing lots of people I knew and new people as well. The
trails were nice, but there was lots of logging road. I was running in my
road shoes and finding that there was not enough lateral stability, I was
going over on my ankles and sliding around too much. During the last section
to the 25 mile turnaround (coming up to Scholz's Deli) the heat was getting
to me much more and I walked much of the roads.
After stopping for a few minutes, I set out again feeling a bit better. The
rest of the leg back to the start/finish got slower and slower. At the 30
mile aid station I changed into my Leona Divides because of the lateral
stability. My ankles felt much better as a result and I was more confident
on some of the trails sections. The hills coming up to the 40 mile aid
station and between the 40 and 45 mile stations were hard, I was walking and
felt like I was barely going to make it to the top. A leg rub at the 40
mile aid station helped a lot. I was feeling worse and worse. My stomach
was feeling bad and I did not think I was eating enough calories. I took
about 1 S-cap per hour, and was drinking a lot so I felt that the my
hydration and electrolytes were probably OK. I was feeling pretty bad and
the uphill road section to 50 miles seemed to take forever.
I finally reached the start/finish and was met by a great reception from all
the volunteers, and was pleased to find Sandy and our friends there as well.
I wanted to change my socks, and ended up having to re-tape my feet as well.
I had a blister full of blood on the outside of one big toe, so I popped
that while taping. I was tired and hot and did not feel like running.
Sandy got me a couple of Popsicles, which helped a lot. After getting
organized, I decided to get moving as quickly as possible so that I would
not just sit around wasting time. I had taken my longest aid station break
here, over half an hour. It was also at this point that I put my bear bell
on my pack. I set out ready to walk the remaining 50 miles if needed, and
feeling like I probably would have to.
Walking this, mostly downhill, road section was probably good for me, but my
stomach was still troubling me. I got to the 55 mile station and gulped
down some coke with ice that felt great going down but as you will see it
turned out to be a bad idea. Across the road and about 20 feet onto the
trail, my stomach started rebelling, and after 4 or 5 violent episodes, I
was empty. I later heard that the aid station people could hear me and were
appalled with the sounds. The next day, at the finish, Sandra overheard one
of them telling people about it. I kept walking though, and started to feel
a bit better. And so it went until the station at 65 (or was it 60? not
entirely sure). There I again met up with Ed Schultze and Brian McNeill of
Virginia, we had been passing and re-passing each other for a while.
At this point I hooked up with Ed and Brian, and we stayed together until
the end. Ed is an experienced 100 mile runner and was there to help Brian
with his first. It was nice to have someone to travel with. They spent a
bit more time at a couple of the aid stations than I normally would have,
but I probably needed it and they made me run at times I would not have
pushed myself. They were great company, and we worked together well, moving
steadily around the course. We arrived eventually at Scholz's deli again,
and the lasagna was wonderful, helping to settle my stomach for a while.
This was a turning point in more ways than one. I started to feel a bit
better, and the idea of heading home on the last 25 miles certainly helped.
Being on the trails at night was wonderful, I loved it and was very
pleasantly surprised that despite my physical ups and downs I did not have
any significant mental down periods, and I never had any episodes of feeling
sleepy. The one thing I hated was the incessant noise from the bear bell.
The last 25 miles went better than I expected. I was dreading the hills (I
complained to Ed and Brian about them way too much) that had given me so
much trouble heading back in last time, but found that I had more strength
now and was able to walk strongly up them. We started running a bit more
and were making better time. My biggest problem now was that my feet felt
very badly bruised. The balls and toes were very sore to the touch so each
step was hurting. I need to investigate shoes with better protection for
the
sole of the foot. We said goodbye for the last time to each aid station,
thanking them for their help, then headed out. On the last 5 miles, Brian
suddenly came awake and decide he wanted to try to push it in. We wished
him luck, but I decided that I was not willing to put the effort in to cut a
few minutes off my time. Ed decided to stay with me. We ran the downs and
walked the ups, but then ran the last half mile or so (when the finish line
became visible :-).
What a glorious feeling, just being able to stop, and knowing that you don't
have to start again, mixed with the satisfaction of finishing my first 100
mile race. I was tired and sore but very happy. My wife was there to meet
me and she and a large crowd of runners cheered so that they sounded like at
least twice as many as they were, what great support. We stayed around
cheering on the runners who came after, Joy (Who Helen, Ed and Brian and I
convinced to start out again. At 65 miles she was having problems with here
ankle and looked like she was going to stop. We managed to convince her to
start again.), Ron Gehl and Jim Martin, Don and Marion Landry. It was
great to see each of them finish and to cheer them as they crossed the line.
I am so pleased to have finished, and realize that it would not have been
possible without the help of so many. Sandra most of all, without her
support I would not be able to do the amount of running needed and complete
these races. Helen and her team, after every race I say "the aid station
people were great", but I did not have any idea what great was before now.
They did anything we asked and more, doing everything possible to make sure
we were successful, they cared that we finish. The marking on the course
was perfect. Whenever I looked up, there was a ribbon visible and it was
clear where we had to go. The reflectors worked very well, making the
navigation at night quite easy. Finally, the other runners who all had kind
words or encouragement, including the usual lies like "you look good". In
particular Ed and Brian helped make the night run much more comfortable.
If you know Ed, ask him about the one time during the night that he wanted
privacy and the race director drove by.
John Turner
jturner@pivotal.com